Tag Archives: spring onions

I have to admit I wasn’t very familiar with asparagus, until my taste buds got to taste some very well prepared bits of this rather luxurious vegetable. I was pretty fascinated not only about the taste, but also the texture and colour.

And so I had to try some at home, this time using ghee instead of butter and a few of my latest favourite flavourings that match well with the starchiness of the potatoes – the chosen accompanying veggie. It goes like this:

I cut the potatoes in medium to small pieces and put it to boil with salt and turmeric. In a large pan I gently fried very fine chopped ginger and garlic along with a spoonful of green curry. Everything in ghee. I added the asparagus (partially peeled and cut in half) and continued to sautée everything together with a bit of water over medium heat. Meanwhile, the potatoes were almost ready and so I poured almost all their water out and put it aside. When the asparagus was fairly tender I mixed it with the potatoes and their remaining liquid and left it to cook for a few minutes more. I seasoned it with kaffir lime powder and, at the end with fresh melissa and rucola leaves and spring onions. Some lemon zest or a juicy green salad goes together perfectly. The combination turned out delicious, filling and yet subtle in taste! hope you’ll like it too 🙂

Indian food…mmmm! I admit I have a crush. And it’s actually a crush on spices and enhanced flavors that I’m infatuated about. Although my eyes haven’t dropped on any reliable health claim on the methods of heating up the spices, my experience is that as long as it’s not oil & starch overloaded and of course, not in big quantities (which can be a bit tricky due to the typical thali ‘refill’ 🙂 traditional Indian food feels good in the body.

So let’s have a look at how spices can add up to such a common dish as potatoes.

First of all, any introduction to Indian cooking involves getting acquainted to chillies, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut & a lot of whole and ground spices. And subsequently to frying them at high heat in a drop of oil (not always, but most usual). The order in the pan starts with the tougher spices(cinnamon bark, star anise, cloves, black pepper, dried red chillies), followed by the seeds(mustard, cumin, fennel, coriander, nigella, etc) so by the time they start popping, they can all be incorporated with the onions (together with fresh chillies, garlic, ginger and so on). One must pay a lot of attention not to burn the spices, at least until the onions step in. The last ones to come are the ground spices, the powders(turmeric, cumin, coriander, different masalas, etc)

Once you develop the skills, you can start playing 🙂 Here I used a combination of black mustard, cumin, fennel & nigella seeds with chilly flakes, onions, ground turmeric and cumin. When the base was getting ready – the onions turning yellowish – I added the new potatoes, previously halved and boiled in salted turmeric water. Cook everything together for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Now bring some European touch to it 😛 chop some fresh coriander, spinach or spring onions and peel some carrot slices to balance the taste and make it look even better!

No wonder there’s so much talk around and about the nutritional benefits of broccoli. This greener sister of cauliflower is not only packed with vitamins A, C, K and folic acid but carries a great deal of minerals such as chromium, calcium, potassium and magnesium. Here you can find an exhaustive explanation of its amazing health benefits.

There’s one simple way in which you can enjoy the green crispiness of broccoli without cooking it over heat, and that’s by marinating it. You can think of accompanying it with mushrooms, either by marinating them all together in a bowl, or separately, in two bowls (due to their different consistencies, you might as well consider different marinating times). Both of the veggies should be cut in slices thin enough so that the liquid is able to permeate the pulp. If you fancy garlic or thyme, now it’s the right time to make them part of the marinade.

Oblivious of all, the broccoli will turn perfectly juicy over the night, yet crispy enough to be chewed. You can now add corn/peas, spring onions and dill and garnish it with anything from tomatoes to sesame or hemp seeds. This recipe is so easy that you can literally do it in the turning of a hand.

Zucchini is something you either love or hate. Some people may feel extremely queasy while others simply relish its rather flabby texture. When I say this, I refer to squash or zucchini tagliatelle because this is how you can make it resemble the traditional pasta. All you need is a peeler to peel off fine layers of squash until you get to the seeds.

The result should look like this

Now think of a nice sauce to accompany the so-called pasta.

You can play around with tahina, mustard and olive oil or simply try out one of the vegan mayonnaises. Another equally healthy alternative is a ketchup made out of tomatoes, olive oil, dates and salt.

Season it as you wish – garlic, basil, thyme, pepper, etc – and add some protein if needed – crushed walnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds, previously soaked and strained.

Gather a few more vegetables that keep a firm texture (pepper, red cabbage, carrots, peas, spring onions or garlic) and there you have your pasta delight!

Adding the greens (dill, rucola, parsley, etc) or some sliced tomatoes at the very end will save them from getting completely mushed into the sauce.

All you have left to do now is slurp, slurp!

I prepared this dish so many times and each time it turns out a little bit different. Hope the pictures serve you well, but above all trust your imagination!